Farm Fresh president out

A spokesman confirmed Tuesday that president Bill Parker has left the grocery chain after serving in the position for about 11 months.

No cause for departure was announced.

"I can confirm that we are opening a new search immediately," said Jeff Swanson, a spokesman for Farm Fresh. "I can say this is an opportunity to go in a new direction."

Parker took over as interim president in September 2012, following the two-year presidency of Gaelo de la Fuente. He replaced Ron Dennis, who retired in 2010 after 12 years with Farm Fresh.

According to an annual report released by industry publication Food World, Farm Fresh has seen a decrease in sales in 2013, going from $776 million in 2012 to $757 million.

Farm Fresh controls 32 percent of the market share in Hampton Roads, down from 33 percent in 2012, according to the Food World report.

Chad Ferguson will serve as interim president for the grocery story chain, Swanson says. He joined the company earlier this summer from Kroger.

Farm Fresh, based in Virginia Beach, is owned by Minnesota-based SUPERVALU. In April, Swanson said changes at the corporate level gave the Farm Fresh banner more decision-making authority on the local level.

"This decentralized model moves key decision making about the customer, the products and marketing and merchandising campaigns to our banner offices," he said at the time. "This is exciting for Hampton Roads and our customers as we can now negotiate product offerings and deals that are more appropriate and timely for our shoppers."

That decentralized model is still in place, Swanson says.

There are 40 Farm Fresh stores in Hampton Roads.

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